The UP BJP received a shot in the arm when Samajwadi Party MlC, Devendra Pratap Singh and a former MlA, SP Singh joined the party saying that the SP has been reduced to ‘ek parivar ki party’. Devendra Pratap had earlier demanded the resignation of CM for his failure to check corruption. While Devendra Pratap Singh is MlC from Faizabad-Gorakhpur graduate constituency and his tenure is till November 2016, the other lawmaker SP Singh is a former MlC from lucknow and is the owner of lucknow Public School chain. Surprisingly, SP Singh’s wife Kanti is an MlC from lucknow- Rae Bareli graduate constituency and is supported by the Sanmajwadi Party.
“The leaders joining BJP are respectable people of their areas and know the pulse of the people. They understand that people are fed up with the misrule of SP regime and are looking towards BJP for reprieve,” said BJP chief laxmi Kant Bajpai while inducting the leaders into the party at state party headquarters in lucknow. He said that the BJP will launch an aggressive campaign against the Akhilesh Yadav government now. “The results of Panchayat polls have exposed the lies of the ruling dispensation. The BJP is the only party which had named its candidates before election and one can see where BJP stands,” he said.
He said that the party’s seats have increased 10 fold which shows the growing popularity of the party in rural areas. “In our Mathura convention, we had decided that the party will contest panchayat polls and declared candidates. We stuck to that but why did the other parties shy away from declaring their candidates,” he said without naming SP and BSP.
Meanwhile, Devendra Pratap Singh, said he was frustrated with the SP as there was was no freedom and corruption was rampant. “Anarchy prevails in the state, hence I was forced to leave the party,” he said.